Back in February the development team at Blizzard Entertainment working on Diablo III stated they were really hoping to get the game out this year, and that it was their “goal to get it there.”

Fans crossed their fingers and hoped for the best, but unfortunately setting a goal and hoping wasn’t enough. Blizzard has confirmed today that Diablo III will not launch before the end of the year. Instead, a new release window has been set of early 2012, which is just as infuriatingly vague as the last time frame given.

There are some plus points to this development extension, though. Blizzard has decided to extend the closed beta for the game, meaning if you are part of that process you have additional time to play with the pre-release builds. Blizzard also want more testers playing, so if you already have a Battle.net account with a Blizzard game listed on it, go to your account management section and opt-in to the beta now.

One final thing Blizzard announced today is a reprieve for anyone who was involved in the Diableard challenge. It saw anyone taking part agree not to shave their beard until the release day of the game. With that release potentially being an additional 1-3 months away, Blizzard has a new found “fear for your well-being and personal hygiene.” So it’s fine if you want to shave it off and remind your friends what you look like this Christmas.

Blizzard assures us that the extra time is required to ensure the game is everything fans expect it to be. As for getting a release date locked down, apparently we just need to keep watching Diablo3.com for the announcement, hopefully that arrives before 2011 is over.